Jeffrey Spector, district-wide coordinator for music and art for Greenwich Public Schools, shows the choral room at Greenwich High School April 29, 2011. Spector's position is being eliminated, part of a reshuffling initiative within the senior management ranks of Greenwich Public Schools.
Photo: Helen Neafsey, ST

Colleen Morey, the physical education, health and family consumer science coordinator, is shown here in 2004. Morey's part-time position is being eliminated, part of a reshuffling initiative within the senior management ranks of Greenwich Public Schools.
Photo: GT

The first casualties of a reshuffling initiative within the senior management ranks of Greenwich Public Schools, part of $1 million in cuts set by first-year Superintendent William McKersie, include the district's music/theater coordinator and the administrator in charge of physical education.

In a letter to fellow educators sent Monday, McKersie identified six administration-level positions that are part of the consolidation plan, which will take effect when the current academic year ends in the spring.

Two of the positions are being eliminated outright, while four others are being combined into two.

Further staff reductions in the district's central office are also on the horizon, but not at the top of the organization, according to the email from McKersie.

"The loss of these key positions will impact the district," McKersie wrote his colleagues. "There is no question that those in the current positions slated to be eliminated or reduced have provided outstanding service to the Greenwich Public Schools. It is hoped and anticipated that many, if not all, of those currently in the affected positions will have the option of remaining in the school district in a productive capacity."

The position of art, music and theater program coordinator, held by Jeffrey Spector since 2001, is being eliminated.

An email message seeking comment from Spector, who oversaw the replenishment of the department's depleted teaching ranks, was sent to him Tuesday night by the newspaper.

The part-time position of physical education, health and family consumer science coordinator, held by Colleen Morey, is also being eliminated.

A message was also sent to Morey, who retired from full-time service to the district last year and came back on in a part-time capacity under interim Superintendent Roger Lulow.

McKersie is scheduled to discuss the efficiencies, which are expected to yield $350,000 in annual salary savings, with the Board of Education at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Havemeyer Building.

"Reductions are always a very difficult process," Leslie Moriarty, the school board's chairman, told the newspaper Tuesday night.

Moriarty commended McKersie's handling of what she characterized as a delicate task, saying that he kept the board and school staff well informed at every step of the way. She declined to discuss whether the administrators affected will receive severance packages or are eligible for retirement, referring those questions back to the district's central command.

"They all have the opportunity to apply for the new positions," Moriarty said.

Responding Tuesday night to a follow-up email sent by Greenwich Time, McKersie stressed a commitment to the administrators affected by the cutbacks.

"Simple answer is that all are assured continued employment in the district if that is what they choose," McKersie told Greenwich Time by email Tuesday night. "They have been excellent contributors to the GPS. We will work with them to find the best option."

PTA Council President Lisa Beth Savitz ­-- without getting into the nitty-gritty of the reorganization, which she said is still be worked out -- lamented the downsizing.

"Any reduction of key personnel, such as these positions, is deeply disturbing to parents and teachers," Savitz said by email Tuesday night. "Each of the individuals affected is a much-valued partner to the PTA Council, and contributes greatly to the Greenwich educational system by making the most of her/his soon-to-be-eliminated role."

The district will no longer have separate math and science coordinators, combining them into a new Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics or STEM coordinator position. Those posts are currently held by Brenda Brush and Sheila Civale.

McKersie's reorganization plan also calls for the consolidation of the English/language arts and social studies coordinators' posts into the new position of humanities coordinator. Those posts are currently held by Jennifer Mitchell and Jarret Pepe, the latter of whom spends the bulk of his time as assistant principal at Western Middle School, a job that is not affected by the plan.

McKersie wrote in a separate email to staff Monday that the positions targeted for elimination or consolidation should not be interpreted as an indictment of those individual administrators.

"Please hear loudly and clearly that the reorganization is not a statement on the quality of work of any of the individuals whose positions are being reduced or changed," McKersie wrote. "The individuals affected have been great contributors to the Greenwich Public Schools and may well continue their excellent work for the district in new capacities."

The school district's original 2013-14 budget proposal came in at $143 million, a 2.7 percent increase from the current fiscal year.

But educators are under pressure from the Board of Estimate and Taxation to cap increases in operating expenses at 2 percent, a difference of $1 million.

In year five of a recession that has diminished home values and stunted the growth of the Grand List, the town's fiscal stewards want to cap the operating budget at $340.4 million, including school spending.

To get to the $1 million in savings, McKersie has also called for a $228,500 cut in math review and an additional $214,270 reduction to multiple accounts falling under the schools administration that he has not yet publicly outlined.